- Won the 2007 Vandys Flash Handicap with A Mere Splash- Won the California Sires Cup Futurity with Prayers Junior in 2000.- Won the La Pacifica Handicap aboard Summertime Quickie in 2001.- Won the Miss Princess Handicap with Sammies White Chick in 2003 and Pure Rhythm in 2002- Won the California Breeders' Sprint with Harley Man in 2003.- Won the Ford Challenge Championship and Ford California Challenge with Willie Works in 2003. - Won the Vandy's Flash Handicap with I Ought To Be First in 2003.

Career Profile: Rodrigo Aceves has marked himself as a standout in the local jockey's colony. After finishing 12th each of his first two years here in 2000 and 2001, Rodrigo has finished in the top six in the four years since. He was the fifth leading rider here last year with 109 wins. Rodrigo's motivation for working hard stems from his disappointment at the end of the 2001 campaign. That year, Rodrigo was in the top 10 in the standings the entire year before a poor last month knocked him out of the top 10. "That was tough to take," he said. "A couple of riders passed me in the standings and I ended up in 12th place. But that gave me greater motivation to forge ahead and work hard to reach my goals."

Rodrigo grew up watching his father ride races in Mexico, where Pedro Aceves Rodriguez, who is now in his late 50s, is still riding professionally. "My dad has had a lot of broken bones over the years," Rodrigo said. "This was the last thing my parents wanted me to do. But my mind was made up that I wanted to be a jockey."

Rodrigo got his big break thanks to one of his father's old friends, Ricardo Mendez. Ricardo, who cared for horses at a ranch in Riverside, California, needed a young rider to help him and Rodrigo was exactly what the doctor ordered. "I just knew how to gallop a little, that was it," Rodrigo added. "I had never even ridden in a match race. And I didn't learned how to ride in one day, it took me about a year to learn to ride." Rodrigo got his next break when trainer Vicente Montano hired him to ride at St. George, Utah in the spring of 2000. There, Rodrigo won as many as seven races on a single card. Trainer Denny Ekins encouraged Rodrigo to visit California after watching him ride in Utah. "Rodrigo has a big future ahead of him," said top rider Alex Bautista. "He's got a lot of talent and he'll be around for a long time."